NEW DELHI: In a move that will bring major cheer to the common man, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his Budget 2016 speech announced that the tax relief on House Rent Allowance (HRA) will be raised from Rs 24,000 per annum to Rs 60,000 per annum.

Focusing on education and job creation through skill development, Jaitley spoke of the importance of quality education. “We are committed to empower higher educational institutions. We want to ensure affordable access to quality education,” Jaitley said.

“We plan to set up a higher education financing body. We will set aside Rs 1000 crore for this not for profit organisation,” Jaitley said.

Jaitley also spoke of ‘Skill India’ and said, “Under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, we plan to set aside Rs 1700 crore for skill institutions. National Skill Development Mission has imparted training to 76 lakh youth. 1500 Multi skill training institutes will be set up.” “The idea is to capitalise the demographic advantages. The objective is to skill 1 crore youth in the next 3 years under the PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana,” Jaitley added.

Jaitley started his speech by stressing on Indian economy’s resilience amidst the current global economic turmoil. “Global economy is in a serious crisis. Financial markets have been battered but Indian economy has held its ground firmly.”

“IMF has hailed India as a bright spot. Let us look at our achievements compared to the last three years of the last government. We inherited an economy with low growth and high inflation,” Jaitley said.

“We have bridged the trust deficit created by the previous government,” Jaitley added.